Look at Harcombe Valley being intentionally destroyed. It's death by 1000 cuts.

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The image above is an actual site photo taken from public land.

Imagine you are standing in Harcombe Valley.

The A35 is above you, but down in the combe it feels like another world. Ancient lanes wind between high earth banks. Water emerges from the hillsides and finds its way into the stream. Steep green slopes rise on either side. Woodland provides shelter and darkness. At night, the deep sides of the valley create something increasingly rare: real darkness and tranquillity.

This is not simply an empty piece of land. It is a landscape shaped over thousands of years — a fragile landscape of woodland, pasture, springs, streams and wildlife that, once damaged, cannot simply be put back. And it is being changed one small breach at a time.

A tiny home here. An unauthorised track there. Rubbish and waste dumped. Vegetation cleared. A field gate being used for something it was never intended to serve. Plastic covering the ground. And now more tiny homes. Caravans. Trailers. Horseboxes. Dumped detritus.

Each one can be dismissed as a small matter. And they are changing the landscape. This is how protected countryside is lost. Not in one dramatic act, but through a thousand small ones.

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Death by a Thousand Cuts

The Harcombe Valley Action Group was formed to stop this happening.

Our mission is simple:

To Preserve. To Protect. To Hold Authorities to Account.

We want to work constructively with the authorities responsible for protecting the valley. But where public bodies fail to act, the community has a right to ask questions, demand answers and insist that the protections afforded to this landscape are actually enforced.

 

 
An Irreplaceable Sanctuary

Harcombe Valley lies on the Devon–Dorset border, beneath the high-speed corridor of the A35. The steep-sided combe drops dramatically from the plateau into a network of ancient lanes, high earth banks, woodland, pasture and streams. It is part of a designated National Landscape, formerly known as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. These areas are not merely protected. 

 

Since the 2023 legislation, the duty on relevant public authorities was strengthened from merely having regard to the National Landscape purpose to having to “seek to further” it.

Harcombe Valley's value is not simply visual. The valley has a complex and fragile geology. Porous Upper Greensand sits above dense, relatively impermeable clay. Rainwater filters through the higher ground before emerging as springs and flushes. On steep slopes, disturbing vegetation, drainage or ground levels can have consequences far beyond the immediate site.

Beneath the trees and hedgerows is a wildlife world that most passing motorists on the A35 will never see. The deep, unlit topography of the combe provides an important pocket of darkness and tranquillity. The valley is known to support protected species including Hazel Dormice and several species of very rare bats, which depend upon suitable woodland and habitat corridors. 

This is precisely why landscapes such as this receive special protection.

What looks like a quiet piece of countryside from the road is, in reality, a complex and fragile living system.

 

 
Calculated erosion

The current situation did not happen overnight. It has developed through a series of planning applications, refusals, appeals and subsequent changes to the site. In 2021, an application was made for a determination as to whether prior approval was required for a proposed agricultural/goat shelter.

East Devon District Council determined that full planning permission would be required.

A full planning application followed. Application 22/0883/FUL sought permission for a wooden shelter described as being for agricultural use.

That application was refused.

The structure was nevertheless built and a residential Tiny Home appeared alongside.

The planning history continued. And eventually the matter reached the Planning Inspectorate.

 

 
19 February 2026

Four Appeals Dismissed

On 19 February 2026, the Planning Inspectorate dismissed four appeals relating to the site.

Case references:
APP/U1105/C/23/3321021
APP/U1105/C/24/3354198

The Inspector found that the unauthorised development introduced what was described as “domestic and industrial clutter”, harming the character and appearance of the valley.

A full award of costs was also made against the appellants on the basis of unreasonable behaviour.

The decision required the unauthorised uses to cease and the site to be restored within the periods specified by the Inspector.

The compliance deadline is: 19 November 2026

This should be the point when the planning process delivers a successful outcome: the two landowners MUST have completely complied with the remediation requirements of the upheld Enforcement Notices.

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Following the dismissal of all four appeals, the upheld enforcement notices require, by 19 November 2026, the landowners to have completed the following actions on all 47 acres:

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1. The residential use of the land to cease permanently.

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2. The touring caravan known as “The Tiny Home” to be permanently removed from the land.

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3. The unauthorised storage use of the land to cease.

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4. Waste materials, building materials, non-agricultural machinery and materials, trailers and non-agricultural vehicles associated with that unauthorised storage use to be permanently removed from the land.

               

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The two landowners were given 9 months. Instead of compliance they chose to continue their destruction of Harcombe Valley.

 

 
And Now There Are Five

Since the February decision, four additional tiny homes have been brought onto the site, making 5 in total. In the Landowners' Common Ground Project Open Letter video series, the master blueprint for the 47-acre East Devon site explicitly features 40 mobile off-grid tiny home units acting as the community’s primary residential dwellings. Furthermore, and according to a public record published by Axminster Nub News, the two landowners explicitly stated during a community meeting at the Lyme Regis Baptist Church that their project intends to enable '50 or so families to live off the land' on the 47-acre site. Extracts from their 2023 annual report demonstrating the extent of thier plans can be found in the Site Photos section of this website.

Think about this for a moment. A planning decision has been made. Appeals have been dismissed. The unauthorised residential use has been found unacceptable. The site has been required to be cleared and restored. And yet the number of tiny homes has increased.... is increasing.......
That raises a simple question:

What happens when a planning decision is made, but the situation on the ground continues to change?
 

 

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Where Is the Sewage Going?

Much of what is happening on the site is visible from public footpaths crossing the valley floor and from Harcombe Lane. From these public viewpoints, there appears to be no visible mains sewer connection, septic tank or other obvious sanitation infrastructure serving five residential units.

 

Where is the human waste from five households going?

We are not claiming that pollution has occurred where there is no evidence. We are asking who has checked.

 

The Harcombe Stream runs directly alongside the site and feeds into the River Lim. The River Lim is already the focus of longstanding concerns about water quality and sewage pollution. Water runs downhill. What happens on these slopes does not necessarily stay on these slopes.

How is sewage being managed? Where is the wastewater going? Who is responsible for checking? And what happens if the arrangements are not lawful or environmentally safe?

These are not abstract planning questions. They are questions about water, wildlife, public health and the future of the River Lim.
 

 

The A35: A Dangerous Question

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This is not a quiet country lane. It is a fast, heavily trafficked trunk road with a documented history of serious collisions.

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On the short stretch of the A35 encompassing the Harcombe field access, Raymond's Hill and Scotts Lane, recent years have seen multiple serious-injury collisions, HGV crashes, emergency road closures and substantial roadside damage.

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In July 2024, an HGV left the carriageway at Raymond's Hill, striking a tree and completely breaking a telecommunications pole, bringing down the lines.

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And in August 2026, a collision between a car and motorcycle at the A35/Scotts Lane junction left the motorcyclist seriously injured and required the road to be closed.

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This is the same stretch of A35 onto which additional vehicle movements from the Harcombe site would emerge.

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The question for National Highways and EDDC is simple:

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How much additional risk is acceptable on a road with an established record of serious collisions?

Given this notoriety, we're not surprised National Highways is currently carrying out a major safety programme on this stretch or that local district councillors have actively tried to lobby MPs to install average speed cameras across this exact stretch. Maybe they should view the video footage taken by some of our core group of the landowners manoeuvring across carriage ways.  

Agricultural use of a field access is one thing. Residential occupation by five separate households is another. It means cars. Deliveries. Visitors. Collections.
Regular journeys in and out. And turning movements onto a fast-moving trunk road.

Its not just our videos showing these are not mere theoretical concerns. Highway-safety concerns about the Harcombe access were formally raised during the Planning Inspector's appeal. The Inspector recorded concerns that the access onto the A35(T) was unsafe. So the question remains:

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Who has assessed the safety of this access for the residential use that is now taking place?

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And what is National Highways' current position?

 

Kicking the Can Downstream

 

This is where the story becomes bigger than one planning application. Several public bodies have responsibilities or interests in protecting different aspects of this site. And yet, responsibility seems to move from one organisation to another. One organisation waits for another. One department points to another. A planning file moves. A complaint is acknowledged. A letter is sent. Another meeting is held.

 

 

Meanwhile, trees are being cut. Unimproved grassland is being dug up. Tracks are changing. Buildings appearing. More vehicles are arriving. More vehicles are parking just on the verge of the blind road summit where two lanes becomes one. More tiny homes appearing. More contempt shown.

 

Who Is Responsible?

East Devon District Council. EDDC is responsible for planning enforcement.

•    What action is being taken to secure compliance with the Planning Inspector's decision?
•    What is the enforcement timetable?
•    What action will be taken over the additional tiny homes?
•    When will the site be restored?

 

National Highways. National Highways is responsible for the safety of the A35.

•    What is its current position regarding the access?
•    Has the change from agricultural to residential use been assessed?
•    What action is considered necessary to protect road users?

 

Environmental Health - Have sanitation and waste arrangements associated with the residential occupation have been properly assessed?

 

Environment Agency - Has the potential impact on the Harcombe Stream and River Lim catchment been investigated?

 

East Devon National Landscape - What ongoing assessment has been made of the continuing impact on this protected landscape?
 

 

We Are Watching

 

This is why the Harcombe Valley Action Group exists. We are not planning officers, environmental regulators or road safety engineers. We are people who care about what happens to this valley. And we are watching. We are documenting changes to the site, recording what can be seen from public land, monitoring the enforcement timetable. We are gathering planning documents, maps, photographs and other evidence. We are asking the responsible authorities for answers.

 

And where we believe action has not been taken, we are using the appropriate formal complaint processes. Because once something has been lost, a letter cannot bring it back.
 

 

If a single caravan, plastic sheet, or commercial vehicle remains on the site past the November 19 deadline, the landowners are instantly in criminal breach of an upheld Enforcement Notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

And yet since that decision, the number of tiny homes has increased.

There is now a simple test of whether the planning system means what it says.

 

Will the Notices be enforced?

 

We are asking East Devon District Council to:

1. Confirm the enforcement timetable.
2. Explain what action it intends to take to secure compliance.
3. Address the additional tiny homes and any other subsequent breaches.
4. Ensure that the site is restored.
5. Ensure that concerns about access, drainage, sanitation and environmental impact are properly investigated by the appropriate authorities.
 

This Is Bigger Than Five Tiny Homes

 

This is not about whether someone likes tiny homes. It is not about whether people should be allowed to live differently. It is not fundamentally about one landowner or one planning application. It is about something much bigger.

Does protection of our countryside actually mean anything if repeated breaches can become established before enforcement catches up?

If one small breach becomes tolerated, another becomes easier. If another becomes tolerated, the next one follows. Eventually, the landscape has changed — and everyone wonders how it happened. Death by a thousand cuts right under our noses.
 

Harcombe Valley is worth fighting for.

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Its grassland and springs and streams. Its woodland and rare wildlife. It's darkness, tranquillity and character. These things cannot be recreated once they are gone.

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We are here to preserve its beauty and its wildlife, and to defend the character of the valley.

And we are here to make sure that the rules created to protect this landscape are actually upheld.

 

We are watching.